Road tolls of up to 1.34 a mile in the UK

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/story.jsp?story=644303

I wonder how they are going to charge motorbikes?
Will they have the (hidden from the public until its operational)
ability to monitor speed and automatically issue tickets. A change in
the law would easily make the registered keeper liable for the fines.
The increase in income would pay for the scheme and offer a future of
further income.

While you watch Big Brother on TV, Big Brother is watching you!

 

Look on the bright side, it will mean oodles of new computers, lots of
project teams (being government it will be run by EDS and split around the
country). It will then be hoorendously late and overpriced (EDS have some
weird pricing ideas) and scraped in around 2010 as the technology will not
ve ready yet.

 

What a stupid idea.
Why not encourage more fuel efficient vehicles and charge people
according to how far and fast they drive, at the time they drive?
How could this be done? How about a tax on fuel?

 

I agree, and have always believed this. Remove all other forms of
taxing, and bung the lot on fuel. This automatically allows for how
heavily you use the vehicle, its economy and congestion. Sorted in one
go, no extra admin required. Indeed admin costs could be reduced, as
you'd not need to collect RFL, and you wouldn't need to police it
either.

 

Andy Hewitt emerged from their own little world to say

Added bonus that idiots with GPS pay extra for all those miles they do
looking at their little arrows rather than reading road signs.

 

You're jokeing right? Tax on fuel? I thought we payed tax on fuel.

People don't want to drive more fuel efficient vehicles, they want to
reproduce ever more offspring and drive ever bigger vehicles. As I've
said before, the problem is not what people want to drive or ride, it's
the amount of people around these days.

 

What a stupid idea.
Why not encourage more fuel efficient vehicles and charge people
according to how far and fast they drive, at the time they drive?
How could this be done? How about a tax on fuel?
[/QUOTE]

People will always get around moves like this. In Germany the trucks
moved to the minor roads:
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub9E75B460C0744F8695B3E0BE5A30A620/Doc~E03CBE36C877
3488EB90EF70959266AEB~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

The government put a stop to vehicles doing this *unless* they were
making a delivery to a stop on that minor roads. A friend of mine over
there says they are now "relaying" parcels. Truck one drops off an
insignificant parcel at a house/shop. It's on his delivery manifest so
he can use the minor, non toll roads. Truck two Picks it up. It's on his
collection manifest so he can use the minor, non toll roads and so on.

 

I agree. It is so much simpler and cost efficient with fewer civil
servants and policing to do, so there must be an alternative agenda. Is
it to know where we all are or perhaps just a UK wide speeding clamp
down.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Muck amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

I can't find the article now but I read last year that for a family of
four with two cars in London they'd save over £600 a year by taking
taxis everywhere.

I'm not really in favour of this £1.34 thing either. I don't use my car
much but I'm sure I do more than the 120 odd miles in peak times it
would take to break even on the RFL. Assuming fuel duty of 50% (which
I'm sure is wrong) is a bit shit as well. What's that, 40 miles?

Hmm...

 

Good point - well made !

 

Muck emerged from their own little world to say

I'm not taking a view on your thesis but your facts are inaccurate. In the
UK, the "amount of people around these days" is affected more by the
reduced mortality rate[1] rather than the reproduction rate[2].

[1] 12.5 per 1000 of population in 1974, compared to 9.4 in 2004 [3][4]
[2] pretty static at 660-700k for the last 5 years [3]
[3] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp

 

LOL.

 

Could be. We know pretty well for sure that speeding cameras are only
revenue earners, why should this be any different?

Having said that, considering the technology that could be involved, it
could also be a huge cash cow.

 

Ok, so.... People don't want to go smaller, they want to reproduce, they
don't want to die.

 

Really ? Thats not like me at all :=)

 

It aint ever going to happen , how the **** will they make people pay for it
when they cant even get people to buy road tax

 

What a stupid idea.
Why not encourage more fuel efficient vehicles and charge people
according to how far and fast they drive, at the time they drive?
How could this be done? How about a tax on fuel?
[/QUOTE]
Because it doesn't address their stated aim of it being a way to control
congestion.

 

Because it doesn't address their stated aim of it being a way to
control congestion.[/QUOTE]

Yes it does.
You use more fuel stuck in traffic so it costs you more to drive at rush
hour
--
Alex

Hermes: "We can't afford that! Especially not Zoidberg!"
Zoidberg: "They took away my credit cards!"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk
www.sffh.co.uk
www.ebayfaq.co.uk

 

Moot point, but not to the extent they're talking about

I'm sure that you don't use up > £1 / mile averaged over the course of
your journey

 

All the charges will do is change peoples travel times so congestion will
just start later

You can really imagine the scenario though cant you ,car drivers held up due
to an accident , breakdown or roadwork's all moved into the higher charge
band will be screaming blue murder and refusing to pay them enter mr /mrs
no win no fee